Donald Trump quickly shifted gears Friday afternoon in an attempt to redirect the national discussion away from an amateur would-be bomber and back to the midterm elections.

Speaking to reporters as he left the White House for a political rally in North Carolina, the president said it was time to get back to the business of boosting his party's chances of holding on to control of Congress.

He said he hoped the national media would come along for the ride and avoid beating him up all the way to November 6.

'The Republicans had tremendous momentum, and, then of course, this happened where all that you people talk about was that,' Trump lamented, referring to the five days of panic over a series of improvised explosives sent through the mail, and Friday's capture of a suspect.

'It was a big thing,' he acknowledged. 'Rightfully so. But now we have to start the momentum again.'

President Donald Trump had a North Carolina political rally Friday, just hours after the arrest of a politically motivated fan who sent pipe bombs to prominent Democrats

The president insisted it's time to get back to pumping himself and other Republicans up, with just 11 days left to determine who will control Congress in 2019 and 2020

With Election Day just 11 days ahead, a White House official told DailyMail.com that the president wants to return to his 'Jobs not mobs' theme, but is concerned that directly criticizing some of the same liberal politicians who were targeted by Cesar Sayoc.

Trump-supporting, bodybuilding Cesar Altier Sayoc, 56, was taken into custody on Friday morning in the case of improvised explosives sent to Demoratic politicians and CNN

'But he'll probably do it anyway,' the official said. 'He's good at changing the subject, and really good at refusing to take prisoners.'

Trump told the press corps on the South Lawn in a brief rain-speckled appearance that he had no intention of toning down his rhetoric.

'I think I've been toned down, you want to know the truth. I could really tone it up,' he said.

'The media's been extremely unfair to me and to the Republican Party,' the president insisted, returning to a time-worn theme that seldom fails to energize his base.

Trump has avoided taking direct aim at CNN all week. New York City police evacuated the network's bureau there on Wednesday after a suspected bomb was found there, in a padded envelope addressed to former CIA Director John Brennan.

Trump hasn't directly bashed CNN since the arrival of a pipe bomb there, and its New York City bureau's evacuation, gave the network a likely temporary amnesty against presidential 'fake news' tongue-lashings

His Wednesday night rally in Wisconsin was spirited and at times raucous but Trump supporters there knew not to chant 'CNN sucks!' as they normally do

A similar package sent to former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper at the same CNN address was intercepted at a Florida mail-sorting facility.

Clapper is a CNN contributor; Brennan is paid for his commentary by MSNBC. Neither is a network employee.